This Time Around
by candycoatedkisses
Summary: She was a young girl who made all the wrong choices during her life. Starting anew will she be able to redeem herself as she aides in the path of a certain summoner? Or is it true that old habits die hard?
1. Prologue

AN: Well, my first FFX fanficcy. =X Hope it doesn't turn out too bad, do review and let me know. Might include some pairings and whatnot, most likely not any with my character though. Just leave a little note for me if you want to see a certain pairing in this fic. Well I shall be shutting up now...oh yeah, before I forget, I do not own the wonderful FF series. But I do own my character whose name I will not reveal yet. Kay, now I really will shut up. Enjoy. ^^;  
  
Once you're in, there is no escape. Well unless you count death...but very few would go that far. Heh, it was funny in a sad way. They live their lives on the edge staring death straight in the eye and then wink flippantly. Every time they leave their safe little homes and enter the streets they risk their lives. People who fight for no particular reason, as though it were a mere hobby such as crocheting or collecting rocks. Why do they do this? Some would retort for pride and honor. ...But then what about the famed saying, "There is no honor among thieves"? They were nothing more than worthless men (and occasionally a woman) who talked big and toted guns, and even spilling blood of the innocent. But she could not say anything about them really...she was no different.  
  
What would make someone wish to join a gang? Most adults say they are just looking for love and affection. That most definitely wasn't in her case. In fact; she wasn't looking to join anything at all. But that day...someone came to her with an offer she couldn't dare refuse. It was the only slight glimmer of hope that appeared to her in a long time. So she went along obligingly. After that day, she stripped everything of her former self away. Even going as far as to rid her real name.  
  
She wished for strength, so that's what she recieved. They poked, prodded, and molded her into the girl she is today. She even became a semi legend among gangsters. The girl even had developed a moniker of herself courtesy of her so called 'family'. The Scarlet Butterfly. She had the kind of beauty that looked pure and innocent as Christmas snow. Her raven hair was midback length and cascaded down with the smoothness of a calm night sea. Her violet eyes had a twinkle to them like a mischievous child one minute then can darken with an unidentifiable emotion the next. She had a warm smile that could brighten anyone's day up along with her dimpled cheeks.  
  
This brings up yet another saying, "looks can be misleading", which was most definitely true in her case. That's how they managed to fool some of their victims. Nobody that fresh and young could bring harm to them right? Heh, were they sorely mistaken. Butterfly...the whole gang said she was one. She was like a beautiful butterfly dancing through the sky with such grace and no one could ever catch her. She fought with smoothness and barely broke a sweat. And as for the Scarlet part of her name...blood, what else could it possibly stand for? She remembered very vividly the first time she killed someone. But of course it only happened nine months ago. A celebration for her birthday...  
  
But she did not want to think of that now. Nope, the infamous 16 year old wanted nothing more right now then to get some shuteye. She turned and buried her face into the side of the old crappy couch and pulled the small blanket up over her shoulders nearly covering her whole face. All thoughts slowly began to drift into a slow but surely coming dreamy sleep when a voice interrupted her.  
  
"Wake up Sleeping Beauty," it said with mocking smoothness. She chose not to respond and silently prayed he would leave her be, but of course there was no such luck.  
  
A few seconds passed by in silence. She could feel his gaze burning into her backside. "I'm serious Butterfly, get up."  
  
She felt a hand roughly shake her shoulder but she did not respond. A brief moment later a heavy impatient sigh filled the air. Her eyes abruptly snapped open when the blanket was rudely ripped from her, and because she was so wrapped up in it her body came crashing to the floor.  
  
Peering up at the perpetrator through thick strands of her obscuring her vision she groaned. "Lance!" She hissed.  
  
A half smirk crossed his handsome face as he helped her to her feet, "Hey, you should be more careful."  
  
Butterfly finger combed her hair quickly and sat down on the couch. "Why does it have to be so damn difficult for a girl to get any sleep here?"  
  
Ignoring her question he dug his hands into his pockets and exhaled. "We have a job to do."  
  
Hearing this somewhat perked her up as she turned to him with a smile. "Ooh, what is it?"  
  
He laughed at her response and plopped down next to her. "Don't get too excited Sunshine, it's nothing big. We're a little low on cash so they want us to hit up a small convenience store or something."  
  
She crinkled her nose. "...Oh. Then you go on ahead without me. I'll just catch up on my zzz's."  
  
Lance crossed his arms over his head and stared up at the ceiling with a dull expression. "They specifically told me to take you along." He stated plainly.  
  
Her back stiffened. "Huh? Why would they do that?"  
  
The corners of his mouth tilted downward into a small frown. "I don't know Butterfly." He said quietly. She couldn't help but get a bad feeling as his eyes looked at her worriedly.  
  
Shaking her head she stood up and grabbed the pair of pistols on the coffee table, the ones that were custom made for her. She stuffed them into her leather jacket's pockets and barked, "Let's go."  
  
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*  
  
The car pulled to a stop in the parking lot of a small Stop-n-Go. It was a chilly November night and the cold air was getting to her. White wisps appeared when she exhaled or spoke. There were few stars out and nary a person there, save for the lucky cashier who was working now. Lance switched the engine off. "You ready?"  
  
Butterfly studied his face. He was the only friend she truly had. ...Actually no. There were no friends in this life, so maybe he was just an ally? A companion? "Yeah." She pulled on a pair of black leather gloves and entered the store with Lance close behind.  
  
An elderly man stood at the counter listlessly reading a magazine as a slow country song droned on in the background. He smiled warmly at her. "Hello young lady, my I help you?"  
  
She leaned on the counter and smiled back with her freshly glossed lips. "Actually yes," she said slowly. She tapped the register with a hard object, her gun. "You can start by handing over what's in there."  
  
His eyes widened in shock as he slowly comprehended the situation. "Surely, you can't be- "  
  
Butterfly sighed impatiently and scratched the back of her head with the gun handle. "I am very serious. Now let's hurry up Gramps, I'm a bit cranky and could use a nap."  
  
He shook his head in disbelief and opened the drawer flustered. Butterfly watched the scene with little interest when she felt a burning sensation in her side. She glanced down, horrified to see the scarlet substance. The one, which she usually drew from others, poured fluently from her. Clutching her side she collapsed onto her knees. Shot? She was shot? This was the first time she had ever made a clumsy move, she was usually always aware of her surroundings, but she had not been paying full attention tonight. 'This is what happens when one is sleep deprived', she thought bitterly as she lay on the floor.  
  
Who did it? She glanced over at the cashier who didn't even bare a gun and looked just as horrified, if not more so then her. She turned her head frigidly in the other direction to see Lance staring fixedly at her. "Lance, get-" She stopped mid sentence when she noticed his expression. He was...smiling at her. Everything slowly started to feel so very distant and her vision grew hazy, though this was happening she could have sworn she heard Lance say "one of the lucky ones". It was after that she blacked out.  
  
AN: Thank Yevon for spring break. ^_^ Gives me time to write. So you know what to do. Review por favor. Comments, suggestions, criticisms, cookies? 


	2. Otherworld

AN: Well, here's Chapter 2. Hope you like. ^_^  
  
Jill-J: No worries there. I know my character comes off like that from the start but I have never been much of a fan of those types of characters myself and do not intend of making mine like that. Glad you'd like to read more. ^_^  
  
Kyro: Thankiez for the review and cookie. ^.^ Glad you like how it's going and I'll do my best to keep me lazy butt updated often.  
  
*-*-*-*-*  
  
Such peace and tranquility. Butterfly couldn't help but smile when she felt as though she had just been through the coldest night of her life and someone wrapped her up in a warm blanket. Yes, maybe it was all just a bad dream. She would awake and Lance would be sitting next to her chastising her for sleeping again.  
  
Lance? ...Was he really the one that did this to her? Suddenly she felt like she was suffocating and then quickly realized it was due to her holding her breath. She quickly inhaled deeply only instead of the sweet embrace of air she had so desperately hoped for, she received a belly full of water. Her eyes snapped open to see she was laying face down in, above all places... an ocean? For a brief second she pushed aside her confused thoughts and helplessly grabbed at her throat as she coughed up the offending liquid.  
  
Strange voices murmured from the distance. Butterfly attempted to stand up in the clear blue water to notice a bunch of men clad in yellow on a beach shore observing her. She tried to wave them over but instead fell to her knees once more.  
  
One of the men dove in and swam quickly towards her. Butterfly felt her body being picked and dropped onto the warm sands. Her rescuer panted as he knelt beside her. "Hey, you okay, ya?" Butterfly nearly laughed at his Jamaican like accent. Hey maybe that's where she was, Jamaica? But how in the world...  
  
He stared at her patiently awaiting a reply. "Yes...I'm fine thank you." Thanks? Since when had she become so polite? She rarely used her manners...unless she was being sarcastic.  
  
The man stood up and wiped the sand from his pants. "Thank Yevon you're alive, ya?" He smiled with relief.  
  
'Yevon?' "Yeah." Lethargic thoughts filled her head but everything slowly came back. "The wound?!" She cried out as she sat up. But the place where shad been shot no longer appeared so. It didn't even bare a scratch. She touched it gingerly just to make sure this skin really belonged to her.  
  
"Eh, what wound?"  
  
Butterfly glared at him like he should've known the whole story all along. She stood up warily. "I...was shot." She finished slowly as she stared at her body. She pretty much looked and felt the same but her clothing had dramatically changed. Instead of the usual dark apparel she was clad in mostly all pink. A pair of black knee high boots were on her feet. She wore a light pink 80's styled sweatshirt that showed her midriff and bared her right shoulder and showed the strap of a form fitting tank top underneath and a pink mini skirt with a blue belt that clung to her hips.  
  
She let out a moan in confusion. "What in the world? Where am I?"  
  
"The Isle of Besaid." The man calmly replied. "Look I don't see a wound on you. Maybe someone casted a Cure spell on you or gave you a potion."  
  
Butterfly stared at him blankly as though she were watching a foreign film without subtitles. He put her hand on her shoulder and began to guide her somewhere. "How weird. Two people washed up on shore in one day. Well let's get you to the village. You're shivering from the cold. I'll get you some towels to dry up and fix up some lunch. Sound good, ya?"  
  
Butterfly was amazed at this man's generosity. She herself would never offer a stranger such things. She wanted to yell at him for being such a naïveté. Someone could've easily took advantage of this situation and rob him blind or even worse...someone like her.  
  
"OH!" He slapped his forehead loudly leaving his tanned skin bright pink for a moment. "How silly of me, forgot to introduce myself. The name's Wakka." He proudly held out his hand.  
  
Butterfly politely shook it and smiled. "Hello Wakka, I'm-"  
  
"Aya?" A voice shakily called out.  
  
Butterfly felt her back stiffen and her eyes grew small and clouded with a mixture of anger, hurt, and surprise. Aya? No one had called her Aya since...since that was still her name. She rotated her body to see a young man who was clad in yellow like the rest and appeared to be staring straight in her direction. Eyes of amethyst glanced around but saw that she was the only female present.  
  
"Aya? Is- is that really you?" He began to slowly approach her. She stared up at him blankly. She had never seen this guy in her life yet he knew her name. He was fairly handsome with tan skin, a muscular build, brown hair and piercing blue/green eyes with which he looked into hers with hope. "Me?" She croaked.  
  
His mouth dropped and then slowly maneuvered into a wide grin. "It really is you! I just know it is!" Quickly, he wrapped his arms around her, giving it such force both him and her fell to the ground. "Aya-chan!" He yelled out gleefully.  
  
Aya yelped and tried to push the crazed lunatic off of her. He separated from her but still held onto her shoulders. His eyes twinkled with excitement but transformed into hurt when he met her confused gaze. "Do you...not remember me?"  
  
She silently shook her head and was glad when Wakka finally intruded on the scene. "Hey, watch the new girl ya? She already had a close call, she doesn't need you to knock the daylights out of her."  
  
The man got up and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry Wakka I couldn't help myself. This is her. The girl I told you about...the one who was with Chappu when the Crusaders met their unfortunate end a couple years ago." He finished off the last sentence quietly but then turned back to her with a smile. "I knew you weren't dead like they all said. I knew you'd come back someday Aya." He put his arm around her proudly. "This is my baby sister."  
  
Sister?! She felt the color drain from her face. She almost died too... Maybe she really did die and then...is this Heaven? It'd certainly do in her book. Peaceful ocean waves gently lapping against the warm white sands, the clear blue sky with nary a cloud. She most certainly would not mind if she was to spend all eternity here. But just as quickly as that thought entered her head another one came in causing her to laugh out loud gaining concerned looks from these men. Heaven? Like she of all people would be accepted there. Then is this Hell? Certainly not at all what everyone made it out to be. But wait; didn't Wakka call it 'Besaid'? Where the hell is Besaid?  
  
Aya pushed away her thoughts and stared apologetically at the man. "Look...uh, whatever your name is, I can't possibly be your sister. I'm an only child."  
  
He didn't seem put off and instead broadened his grin. "You always said that when we were younger. Claiming that you were an only child that was a princess and must've been kidnapped into our family."  
  
Hearing this brought a somewhat warm feeling to her, as though she really were reminiscing in an old childhood memory with a close sibling. Reason popped the little bubble of fantasy of hers and she frowned. "I'm sorry, there must be a mistake."  
  
He shook his head and pointed to her wrist. "Nope. None at all. You look just the same since I last seen you, and I gave you that bracelet for your sixteenth birthday. Because you always loved butterflies."  
  
Glancing down at her wrist, sure enough, there dangled a bracelet. It was a cute little silver chain bearing a little silver butterfly. Aya had never owned this piece of jewelry ever. Yet here she was wearing it. She held up her arm and stared at it in disbelief. "But-"  
  
"C'mon." Wakka interrupted. "Let's go back to the village for lunch, ya?" He led the way to a dirt filled path.  
  
The man began to follow him but then turned to Aya. "For future references, the names Kieran", he said with a coy smile before running off.  
  
Kieran. She had a brother named Kieran. She shook her head and chuckled as she followed after the only two people she had met thus far that had shown her genuine kindness.  
  
*-*-*-*-*-*  
  
Aya followed them like a lost puppy as her feet noisily crunched on the mulch and gravel. She took in the sights of this island with wide-eyed amazement. To the average person that lived here this might not seem like much but to someone who grew up in the city streets where the sun barely shone this was amazingly refreshing. She deeply inhaled the sweet scent of the fresh air.  
  
"So...since you were thought dead...do you think... What I'm trying to say is do you...know if Chappu is still alive? That is assuming you still remember him." Wakka finally broke the silence.  
  
His brown eyes were filled with such anticipation it almost made Aya feel guilty for her reply. "No, I do not remember a Chappu."  
  
"Oh." He said quietly. "Of course not. Chappu was my little brother. He joined the Crusaders because he wanted to...defeat Sin. Only it got to him first."  
  
A world without sin? Maybe this was Heaven... Kieran turned to her. "Did Sin get to you? It would sure explain the memory loss."  
  
Aya wanted to laugh. Did sin get to her? The girl lived and breathed sins; every time her heart beat she sinned. But something told her they were not thinking of the same thing. So intuition made her keep quiet. Luckily they have arrived to their destination.  
  
Aya blinked. Besaid Village was comprised of nothing more than a bunch of tents and a giant temple like building. Were they like Indians or something? But she made a deal with herself. She had no idea how or why she was here but she is now. These people obviously lived different than her, so she'd just try her best to blend in and not look like a total idiot.  
  
Wakka beckoned her over to a tent. "That is my place, we'll fix you up there." She followed him inside and surveyed the place curiously. It looked cozy, and then again it was extremely small, and was decorated with an array of things. A blonde haired boy was asleep on a cot snoring quietly. "That's him," Wakka whispered. "His name's Tidus. He washed up here kinda like you and he doesn't know anything like you."  
  
She crossed her arms and glared at him. "Hey! You calling me stupid?"  
  
"Well-uh, no, of course not. Just, I..." He stammered as his cheeks glew a bright pink. "I'm sorry ya? Say, do you remember the prayer?"  
  
Aya shook her head. ...Very seldom in her life had she prayed, she was never a religious person. Wakka made a motion with his hands and made her repeat it. "Later on you should go pray at the temple, ya? It might help you."  
  
She agreed just to drop the subject. He handed over a cotton blue towel. "Dry yourself off while I go talk to someone, ya?"  
  
Aya shrugged and bent over to towel dry her wet tresses. "I'll get started on lunch, you must be starved."  
  
She nearly jumped out of her skin at the sudden voice. Kieran stood at the doorway with some supplies in hand. He went towards the small stove Wakka owned and began preparing something. Aya put a hand lightly to her stomach when it growled in response to his statement. "I am."  
  
A sight on the table near him made her heart flutter and a chill run up her spine. Discarded on the table lay a pair of pistols bearing the initials 'S.B'.  
  
Not too crazy on how this one ended but I wanted a separate chapter for what's next. As always, reviews are very nice. I enjoy getting them ^_^ or you can e-mail me at chibisongstress@yahoo.com. I also got a new blog if you want to come check it out, it's at twilightsong.pitas.com. Well, until next time. ~CCS~ 


End file.
